[pbanders]

As others have suggested, the best way in the beginning to learn these techniques is to find an open, straight, safe road, and learn how to smoothly move from 4th to 3rd. Once you've gotten comfortable with this, you now work on other transitions, and at different speeds.

You'll find quickly that in "real life" situations, such as approaching a corner that requires braking while shifting, that you'll need to add in heel-and-toe technique to your downshifting. You'll need to experiement with what kind of foot placement works best for you (depends on your feet, flexibility, pedal configuration, etc. ). As your comfort level and ability grow, you can progress to using these techniques under more and more difficult situations, including on the track.

Learning the basics won't take long - becoming proficient will take longer - real mastery can take years. I'm still working on improving my techniques and I've had cars with manual boxes for 30 years.